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The increase in the number of resolutions underscores the rise
of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)-based
investing, which is spurring more shareholders to push for
corporate accountability.
It also reflects changes under securities regulators appointed
by U.S. President Joe Biden that have made it easier for
investors to file proposals and more difficult for companies to
convince regulators that these resolutions should not go to a
shareholder vote.
A fresh record for such resolutions at an S&P 500 company will
be chalked up next week, when Google parent Alphabet Inc faces
17 on June 1, said research firm Insightia, the most since it
began tracking them comprehensively in 2014.
Roughly ten of the shareholder resolutions that Amazon investors
will vote on pertain to worker rights and other "social" issues,
such as calls for the company to report on worker health and
safety or the treatment of its warehouse workers. The others
call for things like a review of Amazon's use of plastic or
changes to the company's process for board nominations.
Amazon has recommended that its investors vote against all 14
resolutions, saying in its proxy statement that it often has
already acted to address the underlying concerns of a proposal.
While the resolutions are nonbinding, companies often take some
form of action if they receive backing of 30% to 40% of votes
cast.
Top proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services has
recommended investors vote for eight of the proposals, while
Glass Lewis has backed seven of them.
Royal London Asset Management Ltd, Britain's largest mutual
life, pensions and investment company, plans to vote in favor of
at least six of the shareholder resolutions at the Amazon
meeting, its head of responsible investment, Ashley Hamilton
Claxton, told Reuters.
Britain's biggest asset manager, Legal & General Investment
Management, and British asset manager Schroders Plc have also
declared ahead of Amazon's shareholder meeting they will back at
least some of the investor resolutions.
Amazon is a popular holding among ESG-focused funds. About 32%
of funds classified as promoting the environment or social
justice under European Union rules are invested in Amazon,
according to Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Only Microsoft Corp
constitutes a more popular holding, found in 39% of such funds.
Brandon Rees, a deputy director for the AFL-CIO, the largest
U.S. labor organization, said he hoped ESG funds holding Amazon
will more often support labor-focused resolutions.
"It's my belief that worker rights and workers have been buried
in the 'S' of ESG," Rees said.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Simon Jessop in London;
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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